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(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

G. A. BRONDER.

MACHINERY FOR DISOHARGING GAS RETORTS.

No. 595,039. Patented De0.'7,1897.

3 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.)

G. A. BRONDER. MACHINERY FOR DISOHARGING GAS RETORTS.

Patented De0 7, 1897.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. A. BRONDER. MACHINERY FOR DISGHARGING GAS RETORTS.

No. 695,039. Patented Dec. 7, 1897.

19 Wineazrewx UNi'rnD STATES GASTON A. BRONDER,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

MACHINERY FOR DISCHARGING GAS-RETQRTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,039, dated December7, 1897.

Application filed May 20, 1897. Serial No. 637,321. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GASTON A. BRONDER, of the city and county of NewYork, in the State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machinery for Discharging Gas-Retorts, of which thefollowing is a specification.

In machines heretofore used and now in use for discharginggas-retortssuch, for example, as that described in my Letters Patent No.447,022--the rakes are in part supported by a traveling carrier whichruns forward and backward for the purpose of introducing the rakes intoand withdrawing them from the retorts and in part by a lifting-bararranged at a fixed distance from the front of the retorts. lVhen thetraveling carrier is in its most backward position, only about half theweight of the rake is supported on the liftingbar; but as the carrierruns forward with the rakes to project them within the retort a greaterportion of the weight of the rakes is brought upon the lifting-bar. Aweighted lever has been and is commonly applied to the lifting-bar forthe purpose of counterbalancing the said bar and that portion of theweight of the rakes which comes upon it; but as such portion of theweight of the rakes varies in their movement back and forth, it isdesirable that some compensation shall be provided for its variation.

One object of the present invention is to provide a simple means bywhich this compensation can be effected; and to this end my inventionconsists in making the fulcrum of the said lever adjustableautomatically according to the movement of the carrier and rakes.

Another object of the invention is to better control the backward andforward movements of the rake-carrier and rakes; and to this end myinvention consists in an improvement in the hydraulic governor by whichthe movement of the rake-bar is checked toward the end of its travel ineither direction.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a side elevation of aretort-discharg-' ing machine embodying my invention and a verticalsection of one retort of each of three tiers. Fig. 2 represents a planview of the machine. Fig. 3 represents a transverse vertical section inthe line 8 3 of Fig. 1, omitting rake-carrier and rakes. Fig. 4represents a side view of the rake-lifting bar and its counterbalanceand of the means for automatically adjusting the fulcrum of thecounterbalance-lever. Fig. 5 represents a plan view of the hydraulicgovernor; Fig. 6, a longitudinal vertical section of the said governor;Fig. 7, a transverse vertical section in the line 7 7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8,atransverse vertical section in the line 8 S of Fig. 6. Figs. 9 and 10are side views of the upper part of the rake-lifting-bar, thecounterbalance, and the means for automatically adjusting the fulcrum ofthe counterbalance-lever, showing the fulcrum in different positions.Fig. 11 is a back view of the upper parts of the fulcrum-act justingdevices shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

A A A a a a a designate the main frame of the machine, A being the baseor platform, having erected upon it two uprights A A which are connectedby horizontal braces a a a ct,the whole constituting a carriage mounted.on wheels B, which runon tracks parallel with the front of the bench orstack of retorts O O, which are represented as in three tiers.

D is the rake-carrier, furnished with rollers b, which run betweenhorizontal guides constituted by two of the braces to of the main frame,the said carrier being moved back and forth to move the rakes forwardinto the retort and to withdraw them therefrom by its connection with anendless chain c, which is wound upon a rotary drum e and runs on twopulleys d at each end of the main frame. The pulleys d d at the rear endof the frame are shown in Fig. 1, but those at the front end are hiddenby other parts of the machinery, and I have not thought it necessary tomake any special representation of them because the same system ofchains, drum, and pulleys are common in gas-retort-discharging machinesfor example, in the machine illustrated in the expired patent of A. D.Ross,No. 222,565. The shaft 6 of the drum e, running in fixed bearingson the main frame, is furnished with a pinion e gearing with a toothedrack 6 connected with the cross-head e on the piston-rod 6 At one end ofthis rod is a piston working in a steam-cylinder f, to and from oppositeends of which the induction and eduction of The carrier D and the rearends of the bars Y 71. of the rakes i are provided with suitableconnections which provide for the necessary upward and downward movementof the rakeheads and which provide for'the detachment of such of therakes as it may not be desired to operate and which are to be connectedwith the rear upright A of the main frame.

E is the lifting-bar for giving the rakes the upward-and-downwardmovement. This bar works vertically in guides jj on the front upright Aof the main frame, audit is furnished with rollers 7:, between which therakes run back and forth and by which they are in part supported. Thesaid bar is suspended from the shorter arm of a lever F, the longer armof which carries acounterbalanceG for counter-balancing-the weight ofthe lifting-bar and the portion of the weight of the rakes which saidbar sustains. The upward and downward movement of the lifting-bar andthe rakes is produced by means of two T-levers Z Z, pivoted to the mainframe,the upper arm of each of the said levers being connected with thelower arm of the other one by-means of :two rods m m, the front-arm oftheforward leverl being connected by a link n with the lifting-bar andthe rear arm of the rearward leverl being prolonged-in the form of ahandle o, by which an attendant on the machine raises and lowers thelifting-bar.

The machine, so far as I have above described it, resemblesretort-discharging machines heretofore used and now in use, except thatthe fulcrum of its counterbalancelever F, instead of being fixed, isautomatically adjustable to compensate in a greater or less .degree forthe variation in the weightof the rakes that is sustained .by thelifting-bar E, and for this purpose the said fulcr-um'consists of a pin19, which is supported in the upper arm of a lever H, which works on afulcrum .10, having a fixed position on the top of the front upright Aof the main frame orcarriage. The lower and longer arm of this lever His connected, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, by a rod r with thecross-head 6 so that as the rake-carrier D and rakes are moved for- Wardand a greater portion of the weight of the rakes is thrown upon thelifting-bar E-the fulcrum of the counterbalancedever is moved forwardnearer to the lifting-barandfarther from the counterbalance G andthe-leverage of the counterbalance is increased,-and as the rake-carrierand rakes are moved backward andthe weight of the lifting-bar isdiminished the fulcrum-pinp is moved backward,with the effect ofdiminishing the leverage of the counterbalance. This will be understoodby reference to Figs. 9 and 10, which are on a larger scale than Figs.1, 2, 3, and 4, Fig. 9 showing the position of the lever H andfulcrum-pin p when the rakes are in their most forward position and Fig.10 showing the position of the said lever and fulcrum-pin when the rakesare in their most backward position, the rakes in both cases beingsupposed to be lifted.

To provide for the above-described shifting of the fulcrum-pin of thecounterbalancelever, the said lever is not pivoted directly to the saidpin, but is suspended therefrom by means of two linkss s, the upper endsof which are pivoted to the said pin and the lower ends of which arepivoted to thesaidlever by-a pin 19*. To provide for the suspension ofthe counterbalance-lever, the upper part of the lever H is made, asshown in Fig. 11, with a yoke 11*, through which thecounterbalance-lever F passes and within which the linkss .9 work one oneach side of the latter lever. To permit the counterbalance-lever andthe links '8 s to work through the yoke 11*, the fulcrum p i of thelever 11 is made of two pins arranged in line with each other andsecured one to each side of the yoke and supported in two bearing-blockst t, affixed to the upright A In order to provide for receiving thesevere lateral thrust .to which the lifting-bar E is subjected in theshifting of the fulcrum-of the counterbalance-lever by reason of theangularity of the fulcrum-links s, the upper guide'provided intheupright or front portion A of the main frame of the machine is composed.of two rollersjj', pivoted in said uprightor-portion of said frame onein front and the otherbehind said bar. But for these rollers the lateralthrust above mentioned would beso severe that it would be difficult, ifnot impossible, for one man to raise the liftingbar and rakes.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8, which are on a larger scale thanFigs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, it will be understood that the cylinder 9 .of thehydraulic governor is counterbored at eachend, as indicated at 6 largerthan the piston (2 which works water-tight-within the restof thecylinder, and that there are insaid cylinder, near each end thereof,three ports u 11/14 which, opening into the passage 1),, runninglengthwise of the cylinder outside thereof, form communication betweenthe two portions of the cylinder on opposite sides of the piston. Theports a are in the counterbore 6 and the vports u n are in the boreproper, to which the piston fits, but are at different distances fromthe heads of the cylinder. The rakescan move forward or backward nofaster than is permitted by the displacement of the water from one endof the cylinder to the other through the said passage and ports. As thepiston approaches'the ends of the cylinder it covers and closes theports a and a one after'the other, and so gradually diminishes theopenings through which the water is displaced, consequently diminishingthe speed at which the piston and the rake move as they approach theends of their stroke in either direction, leaving the ports 26 in thecounterbores always open, and thereby obviating any shock to the machinethat might otherwise occur by the very sudden stoppage of therake-carrier and rakes. It may, however, be here mentioned that theports at different distances from the ends of the cylinder might all bearranged in the bore proper, so that they would be all closed inrotation by the piston.

The high portion 12 of the passage u between the ports a a a having novent, acts as an air-chamber. The cubic capacity of the said higherportion or chamber is made somewhat greater than the cubic contents ofthat portion of the piston-rod which is involved in the stroke of thesaid rod, so that while it contains some air it may also receive aquantity equal in volume to the displacement of the piston-rod of thewater, which while the piston-rod is passing into the one end of thecylinder is forced out from the other end, where there is no rod, therebeing no room for this quantity of water in the portion of the cylinderoccupied by the rod. Without this provision of this chamber 0 or itsequivalent the movement of the piston in one direction-viz. that inwhich the rod enters the cylindercould not take place.

IVhen, as is sometimes the case, only one tier of retorts is in use andthe use of only one rake necessary, it, in some cases, may not benecessary to shift the fulcrum of the counterbalance-lever with themovement of the rake-carrier and rakes, and in such cases the rod 7' maybe disconnected by removing either the pin which connects it with thelower end of the lever H or that which connects it with the cross-head 6and the lower end of the said lever may then be made fast to anysuitable part of the main frame or carriage, or for working one rakeonly the counterweight G can be adjusted to suit by moving it closer tothe fulcrum.

K is a steam-engine supplied with steam from the boiler J and gearedwith one of the axles of the wheelsB for the purpose of moving theentire machine along the front of the retort bench or stack to presentthe rakes opposite the several retorts in succession. This, however, isno part of the present invention.

WVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In a machine for discharginggas-retorts, the combination of a rake-lifting bar and acounterbalance-lever from which said bar is suspended and the fulcrum ofwhich is movable with the rake, substantially as herein described.

2. In a machine for discharging gas-retorts, the combination of a rake,a rake-carrier, a rake-lifting bar, a counterbalance-lever from whichsaid bar is suspended and the fulcrum of which is movable, mechanism formoving the said carrier toward and from the retorts, mechanism formoving the said fulcrum, and a connection between the carrier-movingmechanism and fulcrum-moving mechanism whereby the said two mechanismsoperate together for the shifting of the said fulcrum with the backwardand forward movement of the rake-carrier, substantially as hereindescribed.

3. In a machine for discharging gas-retorts, the combination of acarriage, two or more rakes, a carrier for said rakes and means formoving said carrier backward and forward on said carriage, a lifting-baron said carriage common to the several rakes, a counterbalance-leverfrom which said lifting-bar is suspended and the fulcrum of which ismovable, mechanism for moving the said fulcrum, means for connectingsaid rakes with the said carrier and carriage whereby one or more ofthem may be moved with the carrier while the other or others are heldstationaryon the carriage and a detachable connection between thefulcrum-moving mechanism and the carrier-moving mechanism, allsubstantially as and for the purpose herein described.

4. The combination with the rake-lifting bar, the main frame or carriageand the counterbalance-lever connected at one end with said bar, of alever as H having its fulcrum on the main frame or carriage and carryingthe fulcrum p of the counterbalance-lever and the swinging links 8 s bywhich the latter lever is connected with its fulcrum, substantially asherein described.

5. The combination of the rake-lifting bar, the main frame or carriage,the counterbalance-lever connected at one end with said bar and having amovable fulcrum supported on said frame or carriage, and a guide forsaid bar consisting of rollers pivoted in the frame or carriage in frontof and behind the said bar to receive the lateral thrust of said bar,substantially as herein described.

6. The combination with the rake-carrier and the mechanism for movingthe same, of a piston connected with said mechanism and a hydrauliccylinder in which said piston works and between the ends of which onopposite sides of the piston there is a passage with several ports ateach end, the said cylinder being counterbored at each end, the severalports being at different distances from the cylinder-heads, the portsnearest the cylinder-heads being within the counterbore and the otherports being within the range of the piston to be successively closedthereby, substantially as herein described.

GASTON A. BRONDER.

WVitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, EDWARD Vrnsna.

